Water and electricity: tank, pump, water lines, lighting, back-up generator
A finished house is a house where water flows at the drinkers and the light comes on in the evening, not a house where the roof is on. The chicks often arrive before these two networks are ready, and the first day is spent carrying buckets. This lesson sizes the water and electricity of the 8 × 40 m house for 1,600 broilers: the tank in litres and its height, the pump and its pipe, the water lines and their nipples or bell drinkers, the lighting, and the back-up generator in kVA, with the power balance worked out.
14 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006This lesson is part of Designing and building a poultry house specialisation. It opens to every registered student, from free registration. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
A finished house is a house where water flows at the drinkers and the light comes on in the evening, not a house where the roof is on. The chicks often arrive before these two networks are ready, and the first day is spent carrying buckets. This lesson sizes the water and electricity of the 8 × 40 m house for 1,600 broilers: the tank in litres and its height, the pump and its pipe, the water lines and their nipples or bell drinkers, the lighting, and the back-up generator in kVA, with the power balance worked out.
- ✓Size the tank (litres, height, position) for two to three days of peak consumption
- ✓Choose the pump (flow, delivery head, power) and the pipe from the water point to the tank
- ✓Lay out the water lines of the house: number of nipples or bell drinkers, diameter, slope, filter, regulator
- ✓Draw up the electrical power balance of the house and derive the lighting and the back-up generator in kVA
- The water of the house: from need to network
- The tank: volume, height, position
- The pump and the pipe from the well to the tank
- The water lines in the house
- Lighting and sockets
- The back-up generator: the power balance in kVA
- Going further
- •Peak need 850 L per day for 1,600 broilers; 48 to 72 h reserve = 2,500 to 3,000 L, two tanks, in the shade, bottom at 2.5-3.5 m (nipples at 0.2-0.3 bar).
- •Pump 1 to 1.5 m³/h at 16 m delivery head (10 m of well + 3.5 m of tower + 2 m of losses), 0.37 to 0.75 kW; 32 mm buried pipe; solar 300 to 600 W possible.
- •Two lines of 38 m: 160 nipples (1 for 10 in the heat) with regulator, winch and drain, or 30 bells (1 for 55); filter, meter, level line, flow 60-90 mL/min.
- •LED lighting 10 W every 3-4 m on two lines: 25 lamps = 250 W; 2.5 mm² cable, panel, earth, timer, emergency lamp.
- •Power balance 3.5 to 4.5 kW → generator of 7 to 8 kVA (2.5 to 3 kVA without fans), 10 m away under shelter, tested every week.